


You're The Glitter In The Darkness Of My World

by girlwiththedragontatooine



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, F/F, Femslash, accidentally crashing into hot probenders, what if
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-06
Updated: 2014-10-06
Packaged: 2018-02-20 04:37:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2415230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlwiththedragontatooine/pseuds/girlwiththedragontatooine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At first, Korra wants to hate Mako’s new date, a girl named Asami who crashed into him with her moped. But once the two girls start talking, they both begin to wonder what would have happened if Asami had crashed into Korra instead.<br/>(Or, an AU where Korra’s the one who crashes in to Asami instead of Mako... sorta)</p>
            </blockquote>





	You're The Glitter In The Darkness Of My World

**Author's Note:**

  * For [isloremipsumafterall](https://archiveofourown.org/users/isloremipsumafterall/gifts).



> This fic was a prompt fill for the multifandom femslash exchange on tumblr. This fic is for  isloremipsumafterall. Beta'd by the incredibly talented and charming skyguyandsnips.

Korra’s time in Republic City kept breaking her down before she could even start climbing but she never expected that—between all the Equalists roaming the streets and airbending training beating her to a pulp— the phrase that would truly knock her down her was, “And this is my daughter, Asami.”

Hiroshi Sato motioned to the beautiful girl clinging to Mako’s arm. Korra gritted her teeth, but tried to keep her face even. Of all the things she _should_ be worrying about, who her crush was brought as a date to a celebration in her honor should be on the bottom of the list.

Asami smiled, thin arm still wrapped around Mako’s. “It’s lovely to meet you. Mako’s told me so much about you.”  
 _What’s that supposed to mean? Did he tell you I was some crazy girl with a crush on him? Did he try and talk me down to hide his true feelings for me?_ Korra wanted to ask. What could Mako possibly have to say about her to his new squeeze?

She tried for politeness instead, like how Tenzin would handle the situation. “Really? Because he hasn’t mentioned you at all.” Maybe that came off harsher than an international peacekeeper should sound. Korra crossed her arms defensively. Her words may not have sounded like Tenzin, but they were true. Still, Korra tried to sound more curious and less accusing. “How did you two meet?”

“Asami crashed into him on her moped!” Bolin explained, sliding in and out of the conversation so quickly that Korra didn’t even register what he said. She hadn’t even noticed Bolin was at the party. She was too focused on the way Asami’s fingers clutched Mako’s jacket sleeve, and how Mako was dressed up with his scarf tucked into a formal jacket— like a real socialite.

Korra tried to imagine herself in Asami’s place, arms linked with Mako’s. Since Mako’s jacket was top of the line Republic City fashion, her formal dress from the Water Tribe would look silly and boring in comparison. The way Asami’s long, red gown hugged her curves tightly at the waist made her look beautiful— and so much more in place holding arms with Mako than Korra ever would.

Finally, Bolin’s words sunk in. “What? Are you okay?” Korra asked. Mako didn’t appear visibly injured at all—but maybe there was a wound hidden under all those fancy clothes. And how come he hadn’t told her about the accident? Or Asami? Weren’t these the kind of important things you told your friends about: near-death experiences and a new… lady friend? What kind of game was Mako playing at?

Mako waved off Korra’s concern with his free hand. “I’m fine. More than fine— Mr. Sato agreed to sponsor our team!” He motioned to Asami’s father, who gave them a proud smile. “We’re back in the tournament!”

Bolin slid up to throw his arm around Mako. “Isn’t that great?” His enthusiasm felt out of place, what with Korra’s entire world crashing down around a teenage couple linking arms.

“Yeah. Terrific,” Korra replied, not even bothering with forcing politeness this time. It was obvious everyone else was too lost in their own ecstatic worlds to notice  the Avatar moping at her own celebration. She already had enough on her mind with the memories of Amon lurking around the corners of her thoughts. She needed a distraction. A party could be a distraction, right?

“Korra, I have some very important people here who would love to meet the Avatar,” Tarrlok said, saving Korra from her worries.

“I’d love to meet them,” Korra said, following Tarrlok through the crowd, mind running through all the social graces she had ever learned.

Korra tried to keep her thoughts off her stresses as Tarrlok introduced her to other high-ranking Republic City Council members, but Korra’s eyes kept drifting over to Asami and Mako. Their arms were still linked, and now they were laughing together, and exchanging sugar-sweet smiles that made Korra want to gag.

When Asami caught Korra looking at them, she grinned and waved. Korra actually, genuinely smiled back before she realized who she was smiling at.

 _What does Asami even see in Mako, anyway?_ Korra thought, nodding along to something Tarrlok was saying. _She’s acting so nice and friendly. Mako’s just a big jerk most of the time. Why does she want to hang out around him?_

Korra couldn’t focus any longer, so she put on her best Peacekeeping Avatar Act and excused herself from Tarrlok’s company. She could tell he wanted to bring up his task force again, and Korra realized that she’d rather watch Mako and Asami make googly eyes at each other than be put on the spot by Tarrlok in front of everyone. She’d already made her decision clear to him- she needed to focus on her airbending, not spend time sweeping the streets like she was that sourpuss Lin Beifong.

What was the point of having the Avatar in the city if she couldn’t master all four elements, right? Right? That was definitely a sound reason, even Tenzin said so. It was her job to master the elements… but it was also her job to keep the city safe. She was the Avatar. Could she do both?

Korra didn’t want to think about that anymore, so she took a deep breath and walked back up to Asami and Mako. Asami smiled wide when she saw Korra approaching, and extended her free hand to invite the Avatar to join in the conversation. Mako’s smile was not as excited. His bushy, dark eyebrows pushed together as Korra joined the group.

“Korra, we were just talking about how Bolin told you the story completely wrong,” Asami said.

Bolin crossed his arms. “I thought I did a pretty good job with my summary. It’s not like Mako would have done any better.”

“What story?” Korra asked, briefly panicking at the thought that they might be talking about her.

Asami laughed. “You know, how Mako and I met! Bolin managed to exaggerate and under-tell the story all at once.”

“Oh. Right.” Korra’s heart fell, but she tried to keep her face blank. Asami was so cheerful, leaning into Mako’s shoulder and smiling with lips painted deep red. All her time as the Avatar, and no one had taught Korra how to paint her lips that way- she hadn’t even thought about makeup when she got dressed for the celebration. Her Avatar training had been swift punches and deft movements that Korra’s muscles committed to memory as she remained isolated in the South Pole. There was no time for fancy clothes and cuddling with cute boys.

Before Republic City, Korra had pictured herself falling in love the same way she had done everything else in life: Walking up and declaring, “I’m the Avatar! Deal with it!” and letting everything fall into place from there. But as the situation with Amon proved, just the power of the Avatar was not enough to solve her problems anymore.

Korra wished she owned something, just one outfit, that did not look like it came straight from the Water Tribe.

*****

Asami’s heart raced. _Oh. My. Gosh. It’s the Avatar! Actually talking to me! In person! Right now!_

She kept trying to play it cool, seem like a regular teen girl in front of Korra. But Asami couldn’t stop smiling, and she was sure she had cut off the circulation in Mako’s arm long ago given how tight she was squeezing it. The Avatar was here! Really here! And her dad was sponsoring the Avatar’s pro bending team!

Ever since Korra arrived in Republic City, Asami had eagerly scoured the newspapers for every article on the Avatar, even if they were silly filler pieces like what restaurant Korra ate at or her favorite places to work out. And then she joined the Fire Ferrets, and Asami could watch her fight _in person._ And now Korra was standing in front of her, wearing a beautiful blue dress that was very in style in the Southern Water Tribe, her biceps flexing as she kept crossing and uncrossing her arms. It was all Asami could do to keep herself focused on the conversation at hand.

“Now, Bolin was right that we met because of a moped accident—but I didn’t actually hit Mako,” Asami began, trying not to blush under the Avatar’s stare. Her eyes were so blue, like the cold water that flowed across Yue Bay. “He walked out into the street, and—”

“And Ms. Perfect Driver here didn’t bother to check to see if anyone was coming,” Mako said, cutting Asami off.

Asami laughed and gave Mako’s arm a squeeze. “Hey, if you had bothered to check before you started lumbering off into the street, I wouldn’t have had to swerve to avoid hitting you! And that’s what I had to do, because all of a sudden the street went from clear to having a teenage firebender in the way. I really thought I was going to hit him! My heart nearly stopped.”

“Yeah, but I guess she’s actually a good driver or something, because she didn’t hit me, and offered to take me on a date to make up for it,” Mako cut in again. “She took me to a fancy place, too. And she recognized me from probending. Can you believe that we actually have funding for the team! We’re going to the tournament!” He turned to Bolin and Korra, and Korra once again focused her blue eyes on Mako.

Asami tried to hide her frown. Mako just wanted to talk to his friends, that’s all. She knew how close probenders got to their teammates. His face was all smiles as he told Korra his plans for the big tournament. It was obvious that he didn’t mean to purposefully exclude Asami, and probending was an interesting enough conversation topic. She could listen without feeling like too much of an outsider—she still had Mako to hang on to, after all.

*****

Korra knew Mako wanted to talk probending strategies, but her mind kept wandering back to his and Asami’s stupid meet-cute story. _Of course_ Mako would walk out into the street and almost get hit. Korra tried to picture what would’ve happened if she was in Asami’s place— _she_ wouldn’t nearly hit Mako with her bike, she was more talented than that. Well… actually, Korra had no idea how to drive. Before Republic city, she’d never seen a bike or a moped or a Satomobile in person. Naga served as her main form of transportation, and it was hard to picture Naga skidding wildly out of control to avoid a pedestrian. The polar bear dog would probably just jump over him and keep bounding on. No meet cute for Korra.

 _I’m the Avatar, I don’t need a meet cute_ , Korra reassured herself, but she wasn’t so sure about that anymore.

“And we need to be careful about the waterbender in the Wolfbats, he’s quick. But you can handle him, right Korra?” Mako was saying, nudging Korra in the side to bring her back into the conversation.

Korra straightened up and pretended like she’d been following what Mako had been saying the whole time. “Oh, yeah, I’m Water Tribe, he can’t handle me,” she said, believing it mostly because no one had managed to handle her yet. Except for Mako, in a sense, considering his elbow was still pressed into Korra’s side. His other arm was still wrapped around Asami.

“That’s the spirit!” Bolin said, clapping Korra on the back. Korra smiled, but she couldn’t match the enthusiasm the brothers shared. Asami was leaning into Mako, eyes unfocused and lips pursed, looking as uninterested as Korra felt.

Seized with the urge to breach a topic that wasn’t going to make her heart race uncontrollably, Korra turned to Asami, shrugging away from Mako’s confusing physical contact and asking, “Hey, well enough about our hobbies. What do you like to do, Asami?” The question was _Gee whiz, I’m the friendly Avatar here to keep the peace!_ enough to make Korra cringe, but Asami’s green eyes lit up. Her eyes were very bright, Korra noticed, the same colors as the trees around Airbender Island. Korra wondered if she had Earth Kingdom relatives that gave Asami such sparkling eyes.

“Lately I’ve been test driving my father’s cars,” Asami said, “it’s really exhilarating, but I wish I could be more involved in the design process.”

It wasn’t until Asami _finally_ dropped Mako’s arm that Korra realized that she had been staring at Asami. She was so full of light—her eyes, the gloss of her lipstick, and her neck glowing from the gold necklace hanging on her chest.

Korra’s face heated up, and she tried to stay focused on the conversation. “You like to design cars?” she asked. This girl test drove cars for a living and wanted to make her own? How on earth had she managed to hit Mako with her moped?

Korra imagined what it must have been like for Mako, looking down the street, view partially blocked thanks to a line of parked cars. Just the thought of taking a step onto the street and not being entirely sure if she was safe to cross sent Korra’s heart racing. Korra preferred just to ride Naga everywhere—it was more familiar. She could imagine herself trying to dodge out of the way—maybe even forgetting she had bending to protect herself—and hearing the screeching tires as the moped careened towards her. And then: the dust clears, and shiny Asami Sato climbs off her crookedly parked moped. Her outfit is dusted in dirt from the skid, but when she pulls off her helmet, a perfect curtain of black hair fans out in the wind and frames that friendly, smiling face.

No wonder Mako went out with her.

Korra came back to earth when she realized Asami had said something to her and was now patiently waiting with eager, wide eyes for her response.

 _Oh my gosh_ , Korra thought, desperately trying to channel some of that, “I’m the Avatar! Deal with it!” confidence, but today was just not her day. At least Mako was talking in-depth with Bolin, both too busy gesturing wildly about the tournament to notice Korra fumbling over Mako’s date.

“Oh, yeah,” she tried, and Asami nodded enthusiastically. It was a good thing that Korra wasn’t the one who got hit by the moped, because she never would have gotten a date.

*****

Asami brought one hand to the Avatar’s forearm, under the rouse of emphasizing a point, but really she just wanted to touch Korra’s bicep. Her hand probably lingered too long but Korra didn’t notice—she seemed a little distracted, almost, only giving one-word answers and slight nods to Asami’s prompting. Mako and Bolin had wandered away, leaving no one to entertain the Avatar but Asami. She frowned as she scanned the crowd, looking for a familiar red scarf.

“What’s wrong?” Korra asked, following Asami’s line of sight with furrowed brows.

Asami waved the question away with her hand. “I’ve just lost my date, that’s all. “

“Oh. Mako. I think he went with Bolin to talk more probending strategy,” Korra said, shoulders slumping as she answered in that same disinterested way she had been answering before.

Asami bit her lip, wondering if she could breach a personal question with Korra when they had only just met. But Korra looked so upset, and who else was going to help her? Asami certainly didn’t see her father being of any help in this situation, and spirits forbid Tarrlok did anything with Korra besides talk up his task force.

“Is everything alright?” Asami asked, reaching out to touch Korra’s arm again, but this time out of comfort instead of ulterior motives.

Korra sighed, eyes focused on her feet. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind, that’s all, and Mako being weird isn’t helping much.”

“He certainly is preoccupied with probending today. As much as I love it, it’s hard to keep up the conversation when you can’t actually bend,” Asami said.

Korra looked up, meeting Asami’s gaze for the first time. “You’re a probending fan? But you’re so…”

“High class? Prissy?” Asami suggested with a laugh. Korra cracked a smile and straightened up a little. Asami’s heart raced. “Are you kidding me? I _love_ probending! I’ve gone to every single Fire Ferrets match! You guys are one of my favorite teams. And the first time you played, I thought you looked familiar. But then you started bending all those elements, and I got chills!”

Asami could remember that day, when suddenly the Fire Ferret’s waterbender was throwing earth and fire around the ring. Asami’s fists had been clenched tight against her palms, and she hadn’t been able to stop gaping at Korra’s every move. After reading about her for days, there she was right on the field—the Avatar! Asami was breathless just remembering the moment.

Korra grinned a little wider and rubbed the back of her neck with one hand. “Really? Tenzin got so mad at me for pulling that stunt. I’m glad somebody liked it.”

“Oh, I did.” Asami nodded. “How do you think you guys got the tournament funding? My dad doesn’t care about probending at all. I’m glad Mako is so happy about it, though. I just wish he wouldn’t get so distracted…” Asami glanced off towards the crowd again, hoping for just one quick glimpse of the firebender somewhere in the crowd, but he was nowhere to be seen. She shot a sideways glance back at Korra. “I almost wish I’d hit you with my moped instead,” she said, grinning at Korra’s wide-eyed surprise. “Then you’d be my date instead of Mako.”

Korra flushed crimson. “Oh, I, uh—”

“Korra! There you are!” Tarrlok said from behind Asami. She nearly jumped at the sound of his voice, but then frowned when she realized that the councilman was reaching out for the Avatar. “I have a surprise for you!”

“Oh,” Korra said, pulling her expression into something more neutral and guarded. Asami’s heart sank. _Well, there goes our conversation._ “Okay,” Korra said to Tarrlok, following him out of the crowd. As she left, she called over her shoulder, “It was nice talking to you, Asami!”

Asami waved half-heartedly at the Avatar’s back and began once again to scan the room. Mako had to be around here somewhere, but she felt empty at the prospect of standing around with her date again. _Oh well,_ she thought, _I’m sure I’ll run into the Avatar again soon._

*****

Korra’s apprehension made the back of her neck prickle, but she tried to remain confident. _Whatever Tarrlok has planned for me, I can take it. I’m the Avatar._ Korra’s muscles tensed, but she stopped in her tracks when she saw what the councilman had lead her to.

A dense crowd of reporters armed with notebooks and big cameras swarmed the stairs in front of her. As soon as Korra reached the top step, bright, yellow flashes of light clicked off and the reporters began to fling questions her way. The Avatar’s breath caught in her throat.

 _Tarrlok tricked me! He ambushed me!_ Her eyes darted around the room, looking for an escape, but then the crowd from the party trickled in and Korra knew she was trapped. She could see Tenzin frowning in the audience, and further up Bolin was waving excitedly to Korra, oblivious of her panic.

Next to Bolin were Asami and Mako, arms intertwined once more. When Korra had first seen the two of them together, the pain had been sharp and defined, like getting stabbed in the chest. Now, the pain was a slow fog weighing her heart to the floor. Korra didn’t want Asami and Mako holding hands like that, but she didn’t know why anymore.

Relationships were never covered in Avatar training. Korra looked back at the reporters, pens poised to write the best slander they could publish in tomorrow’s paper. This was never covered in Avatar training, either.

 

 

 

Korra ran down the steps, away from the reporters, her head buzzing. _I can’t believe I just challenged Amon! And agreed to be on Tarrlok’s task force! What was I thinking?_

“Korra!” A familiar voice made Korra pause in her run, but only for a second. Bolin, Mako, and Asami were all headed in her direction. Bolin was frowning and Mako’s dark eyebrows were pushed together, but Asami was practically dragging the group to get over to her.

“Korra, are you okay?” Mako called out again. Korra didn’t know what to say to that. She didn’t know what to say to _him_.

She kept running.

The streets were cold with night air as Korra ran out in the open. She wished she hadn’t left Naga back at Air Temple Island. Republic City confusing on foot, and Korra could barely pay attention to where she was going—not when the events of the interviews kept playing over and over in her mind.

She could still see the reporters’ flashing lights and Tarrlok’s smug face. _I can’t believe I challenged Amon!_ she thought again. _And what else did I even say in there? I can’t remember._ She could remember the reporter’s accusing questions, though: “Isn’t it the Avatar’s job to protect the people?” one had asked.

 _Isn’t it the Avatar’s job to master all the elements?_ She’d told everyone she wasn’t doing the task force so she could learn airbending. But she already had water, earth, and firebending, so wasn’t that enough to protect the city? Wasn’t that enough to fight Amon, when he had no bending?

_But he can make it so you can’t bend too._

*****

Asami ran with Mako and Bolin out of the building, but by the time they got outside, Korra was nowhere to be found. Still, the three teens scanned the streets, silent but for their gradually slowing breaths.

Asami’s moped was parked near the door they had just exited. Mako followed her gaze, and his face lit with inspiration. “You have to go after her,” he said, grabbing Asami roughly by the shoulders, “Can’t you see how upset she is?”

Asami just nodded and hopped on her bike. She’d seen panic in the Avatar’s eyes when she faced the paparazzi. She’d seen the frantic lope, like a wounded fox antelope, as Korra rushed out the door. The Avatar was in no state to be on the streets.

Asami buckled her helmet onto her head and started her moped. She kept her eyes focused on the streets ahead of her as she drove, looking for any flash of blue amongst buildings tinted dark purple in the moonlight. There weren’t very many people out on the streets at this time of night, not when the Equalists were prowling Republic City. It wouldn’t be too difficult to locate one teenaged girl.

As Asami turned onto a new street and tried to stuff the rising panic back down her throat, a girl came running out behind a parked car. Slamming on the breaks, Asami tried to yell out in warning as her moped skidded out of control, but her bike was redirected to a smooth stop by a strip of street that rose out of nowhere.

Leaning back in her seat, Asami put a hand over her heart to try and calm her nerves before looking over at the girl she almost hit. Asami’s breath caught in her throat when she realized it was Korra—still standing with arms raised from earthbending Asami to safety.

“Korra! You saved me!” Asami exclaimed, fingers fumbling over her helmet’s buckle as she tried to take it off her head.

Korra lowered her arms, lips curving up in a small smile as she walked towards Asami ”That was probably less terrible than almost hitting Mako, right?”

Asami finally managed to undo her helmet and pull it off her head, shaking out her long dark locks and desperately hoping she didn’t have helmet hair. “It was much more exciting,” she replied, climbing off her moped. Her heart was racing, but not from the adrenaline of the crash. “But I wasn’t just driving down the street for fun. I was looking for you! Are you okay?”

Korra assessed her body with a quick shrug. “You didn’t even come close to hitting me. I earthbent you to safety before anything could happen.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Asami said, putting her hands on her hips. “Look, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but Councilman Tarrlok obviously set you up with that press conference. It’s okay to be upset about it.”

Korra crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I’m not upset,” she snapped. Asami raised an eyebrow and Korra dropped her arms. “Okay, I’m a little mad. It’s not fair that Tarrlok forced me to make a public decision, especially one I’m still not sure is right. But with all those reporters there, I just panicked!”

Her palms were splayed out in front of her, like she was waiting for someone to hand her advice, or maybe give her Tarrlok’s neck to wring. Asami moved forward and took one of Korra’s hands. “Hey, I’ve had my fair share of unfair interviews myself. You would not believe how the paparazzi that try and frame me as some sort of ‘scandalous heiress’ or spoiled brat. I’ve learned a thing or two about dealing with reporters.”

Korra squeezed Asami’s hand. “You should give me some tips sometime. I never learned that kind of stuff back in the Southern Water Tribe.”

“I can tell you everything!” Asami, suddenly seized with an idea, grabbed Korra’s other hand, so she was holding both. “Come back to my place and I’ll have my chef make us dinner, and we can talk reporters and shady councilmen. I at least owe you that much for hitting you with my moped.”

“You didn’t actually hit me… wait,” Korra began, before tilting her head and giving Asami a heart-flipping smirk. “Isn’t this how you got a date with Mako? Won’t he be upset?”

“What, that I used the hit-and-date move twice?” Asami said with a laugh, “I don’t think he’ll believe us when we tell him what happened. But we could talk about that more over dinner.”

Korra slipped out of Asami’s hands before offering her an elbow. Barely concealing her delight, Asami linked arms with the Avatar. “That sounds wonderful.”

Hesitating, Korra looked Asami in the eye. “Thanks for coming after me, Asami.”

Asami shrugged. “It was Mako’s idea, really.”

“Yeah, but the hit-and-date move was all you,” Korra pointed out.

“What can I say? I have a thing for nice looking probenders.”

Squeezing Asami’s arm with her own, Korra teased, “You think my waterbending is good? Wait until you see me bend the rest of the elements!”

Asami glanced down at the wrecked street. “I don’t think I need another earthbending demonstration.” The concrete was cracked into a crater around Asami’s moped. “Unless it involves fixing up the street. I don’t know if I can drive my moped out of here.”

Korra grinned. “Do you make all the probenders you crash into give you fancy bending demonstrations?”

“Only the ones I want to date,” Asami said, “And Mako never gave me a firebending demonstration.”

“How’s this for the start of a good date, then?” With two swift movements from Korra, the road became as smooth as the day it had been paved.

Asami linked her arm back to Korra when she finished bending. Leaning into to Korra’s shoulder, she said softly, “It’s the best start.”


End file.
